Barring an eleventh hour reprieve, it seems certain that the first wide-scale strike by public sector workers since the economic crash will go ahead tomorrow.
As Pat Leahy and Emmet Malone report on the front page, the Government is increasingly resigned to the action going ahead, with more than 300,000 public sector workers set to undertake a 24-hour work stoppage.
It comes after an attempt by Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers to initiate talks at the Workplace Relations Commission was swiftly rebuffed by union leaders on Monday.
Healthcare workers, teachers, courts staff and many others are now set to mount pickets outside their workplaces on Wednesday as the row over the approach to talks on a new public sector pay deal continues.
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An independent mediator may be approached by the Government side in the hope of getting negotiations started, but sources suggested this is unlikely to happen until one or even both of the single-day stoppages scheduled for the next eight days have taken place and there is more pressure from the public for a solution to be found.
Malone sets out which services will be affected by the strikes here.
Nearly all courts will shut down and thousands of schools will close, with some 90,000 teachers set to strike.
Life-preserving services in hospitals will continue, but with about 32,000 public sector nurses involved in the strike, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said staffing levels broadly equivalent to overnight rosters would be provided.
Non-consultant hospital doctors who are members of the Irish Medical Organisation will provide Sunday levels of staffing through the day shift.
Local authority services are also expected to be severely disrupted, with many libraries and public offices among the facilities set to close.
There will be no proceedings in the Dáil, Seanad or committees on Wednesday as a result of the strike action.
It appears at this point that there will be at least one day of strike action before talks begin in earnest on a new public sector pay deal to replace the one that expired at the end of June.
Sentencing of George Gibney
Coverage of the sentencing of former Olympic swimming coach George Gibney – who was jailed for more than 15 years for the sexual abuse of four girls in the 1970s and 1980s – includes this front page story by Malachy Clerkin. In another article, Orla Poole, a survivor of abuse by Gibney says: “At 80 years of age, he can still hurt someone. He doesn’t deserve to be out on the streets. He has avoided culpability for over 50 or 60 years, and he has never taken responsibility. For me, I think he needs to die in prison.”
Best Reads
On the Opinion pages, Fintan O’Toole argues that the blue-green smoothie running the country – that’s Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil by the way – has no plan and even less passion.
Elsewhere, our Eastern Europe Correspondent Daniel McLaughlin writes that Ukraine has backed US president Donald Trump’s energy “ceasefire”, but asks is Russia on board?
Olivia Kelly and Niamh Towey report that homeowners in both Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal will see no increase in their local property tax bills next year after councillors voted to retain the rate at 2026 levels.
Health Correspondent Shauna Bowers has an explainer on how weight-loss medications work under the Health Service Executive system and how its expert drugs group will meet today to discuss the potential reimbursement of Mounjaro.
The British attorney general will approve future prosecutions of former British soldiers and others under long-awaited changes to Troubles legacy legislation going before the House of Commons. Ireland and Britain Editor Mark Hennessy reports.
Playbook
European telecommunications ministers will gather in Limerick – hosted by Fine Gael’s Patrick O’Donovan – for an informal meeting as part of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The Cabinet meets this morning. Our tee-up story includes how the Taoiseach will chair a new Cabinet committee on artificial intelligence.
Dáil proceedings kick off with Leaders’ Questions at 2pm.
Government business in the afternoon includes debates on the Employment Equality and Institutional Burials (Amendment) Bill 2026 starting at 2.55pm. Under the proposed legislation the gender pay gap at companies with more than 50 employees will be published on the Gender Pay Gap Portal. The same legislation contains a separate measure to allow for first cousins of children believed to be buried at the former mother-and-baby home in Tuam to be included in an identification programme that sees the excavation, recovery, identification and reburial of children’s remains at the site.
The report and final stages of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2026, which includes bringing RTÉ under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General for audits, will also be debated in the Dáil this afternoon.
A Sinn Féin private members’ motion on home heating oil costs will be debated from 7.47pm.
There will be statements on the Local Democracy Taskforce report and implementation plan in the Seanad from 4pm.
The Committee on Public Petitions meets at 11am to consider a raft of petitions, including on amending learner driver accompaniment requirements and another on the immediate reduction of fuel tax.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan is before the Committee on Justice at 3pm as it considers the Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation Bill 2026.
Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine is the topic of discussion at the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which meets at 3pm and is expected to hear from ambassadors from Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland.
The Budgetary Oversight Committee will be looking at the Film Tax Credit with representatives of Irish Equity and the Irish Film Workers Association, also at 3pm.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin, the Electoral Commission, will be at the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage to discuss its report on election posters and work related to the Electoral Register. The committee meets at 3pm.
